IT #36 Third Coast Adventure Hub

Roll out, roll out for the magical lake circle tour 💫💫💫

May 05, 2025

Fellow Travelers,

It is not without some trepidation that I am unveiling my new project. Perhaps I am my own harshest judge, but sometimes it seems to me that I start new things with enthusiasm, only to abandon them as soon as something more appealing presents itself.

My family knows this about me. But they also very kindly point out that there are quite a few things in my life that I have adhered to with fierce tenacity: an almost 35-year marriage, nearly as many years of running a small business, about 15 years of a food-not-lawns project in our front yard, what has shaped up to be a lifelong writing habit, and 59 years of biting my nails.

And yet, I feel a strong sense —which I recently expressed in a letter to a friend from long ago— that I feel like I haven't lived to my own potential; or, more accurately I feel that I have a lot more potential yet to be fulfilled.

This may be why I am always searching for the next thing, for a way that would allow me to bring forth what is bubbling up underneath —a longing for living life to the fullest, for severing the ties of comforts and routine, for that sense that I am really and truly following my own independent path.

LEAVING CHICAGO

Somewhere along the way I feel I’ve missed my passion. And I’ve looked for it with all due diligence, following the advice of friends and gurus to “look back on things you enjoyed as a child” (I enjoyed soooooo many things!), or “what could you do forever, even if you weren’t getting paid” (um… don’t talk to me about not being paid 🙄).

Was acting my passion, because I enjoyed it in my youth? Is it writing, because I can’t seem to live without it? Or why can’t I just accept that my passion is empowering people to pursue their dreams of independent travel?

A couple of years ago, I tried writing a personal journal entitled “Leaving Chicago” in which I began to document my complex relationship with my adopted home city, and my lifelong effort to extricate myself from its grip. The other day, while going over some of those journal entries, I came across this short passage on visiting Lake Michigan for the first time as a new immigrant:

“I ran down the grassy embankment to the rocks at the end of the water, and marveled at how the vast skyline rose on the left, faded into mere mist, and receded into nothingness as it met the horizon.

“That such a body of water could exist not only smack in the middle of a continent, but beside a major city was a thought that took my breath away. I always thought you had to travel out of the city to get to the wildness of the sea. Lake Michigan proved me wrong.”

On re-reading this passage, the quiet passion I carried within since that moment suddenly stood up in front of me as large as life. “It’s been there all along—woven into the tiny things I keep coming back to, what I do when no one’s watching, the part of the dream I actually love when the fantasy fades.”1

My first love, my one and only vast, beautiful, incomparable Lake Michigan.

FINDING TREASURE

For years, I’ve been searching for answers. What to do, when you’ve poured your soul into your business, and it turns out the business isn’t big enough to contain it? What to do, when you’ve dedicated your life to being a local merchant, and the Internet Superhighway has steamrolled over Main Street? What to do, when doing all the things you have to do doesn’t leave enough space for doing the things you love?

Fellow Travelers, I don’t know where I am going, but I do know it will never be far from this immense body of water which has helped me maintain my sanity through all the years of living in a city I never learned to love.

You too may have things in your life you don’t love, and isn’t it nice to know that you have a lifeline? It may not be the Rockies (or even the Smokies; we’re second flattest state in the Union 😐). It may not be the whales prancing off shore while we contemplate them from the rugged cliffs of Big Sur.

But we, Chicagoans, have a treasure. At our very doorstep, we have one of the world’s greatest, most accessible marvels. Right here at home.

To enjoy it, you don’t need to retire. You don’t need to save for a lavish vacation to take you away from it all. All you need to do is cruise on you bike down any one of the east-west thoroughfares in the city, and it is yours to take right now.

How f**king great is that?!

📣 THIRD COAST ADVENTURE HUB!!

With this long (and possibly slightly tear-jerking 😢?) intro out of the way, allow me to present (ta-da!):

Currently in its barebones form, it will eventually include all you need for adventures around the Great Lake in one place. Everything from bikes to gear, tucked-away destinations and trip planning, and microescape ideas from day trips to multi-day tours. In short, it will be a resource you can use to put together your own self-supported, nature-centered outings throughout the four states neighboring our great lake.

Won’t you join me this summer for the Lake Michigan Circle Tour? We’ll start this week on our home turf with Cook County, and neighboring Lake County, IL. Then, very week, we’ll explore it step-by-step, county-by-county, going aaaaaaalllllll the way up to the Straits of Mackinac to a super secret hideaway place, and hitting all the adventure spots along the way.

If you have the time, you can do the whole tour on your own. But, if you’re like most of us, just push aside the things you have to do to make space —a day, or two, or a week— to fit in the thing you love.

And let Lake Michigan take you breath away, like it did mine when I was just a kid.

…and EVENTS

Before I sign off, let me tell you about our events! Mark you calendars for the following:

In partnership with Jefferson Park Sunday Market, we’ll be holding two demo events in June. It’s your chance to some out and try a variety of bikes you might not have considered, and support your local farmers’ market.

Sunday, June 8: Chicagoland Recumbent Demo
Sunday, June 22: Family Playdate Cargo Bike Demo

Plus, throughout the summer, we’ll be hosting a series of social rides to explore area trails and other attractions (🍺):

Every other Sunday (or so) we’ll ride with our Chicago Recumbent Riders group on various trails in the greater Chicagoland. Don’t worry if you don’t have a recumbent. You can learn about them while visiting trails you may not have tried yet!
Third Friday Brompton Brewery Rides!! We’ll do a quick late-afternoon ride and start the weekend with some locally brewed beverages. No Brompton? No problem. Come and ride with us anyway 😃.

Here’s to a summer full of adventure! See you soon.

—Justyna